A shift range switching apparatus that switches a shift range by controlling a motor in accordance with a shift range switching request from a driver has been known. Patent Literature 1 employs a switched reluctance motor as a driving source of the shift range switching mechanism, and rotates a detent lever integrated with the output shaft through a reducer, for example.
The inventor of the present disclosure finds out the following. A play such as gear backlash exists between a motor shaft and an output shaft. Therefore, the motor shaft quickly rotates in a zone of the play, and a collision sound may happen when a zone of the play ends.